Michelle Rowe: Ex Crank It Cafe boss to open new Scottsdale cafe

A home-taught Tasmanian cook behind a string of successful ventures, famed for her beetroot brownies, is set to open a new cafe with the help of her mum, daughter and old friends.

A home-taught Tasmanian cook behind a string of successful venues in the state’s northeast says the inspiration for her latest cafe, which will open in early May, was her nanna.

Springfield woman Michelle Rowe, who operated Derby’s Crank It Cafe for more than seven years, before opening a sister venue in Scottsdale, Crank It 2, will throw open the doors to Bayleaf Brew on May 3 at the site of the former Scottsdale Bakery and Rustic Corner North cafe.

“I owe it to my nanna, there was nothing better going to her house at Derby as a kid knowing every time I went there, there’d be rock cakes in a jar, kiss biscuits, I base a lot of my stuff around what she used to cook,” Ms Rowe said.

“You just cant beat how old nanna’s used to cook back in the day, it’s so special.”

Ms Rowe, a home-trained cook, said Bayleaf Brew will offer coffee, juices, smoothies, fresh, rotating salads, sandwiches, burgers and homemade cakes.

Among other surprises, expects Ms Rowe’s famous beetroot brownies – “featured in three magazines”, she said – all-day pancake stacks with granola crunch, berry sauce and ice cream, “bloody good” bacon and egg rolls, and sticky pork-belly tacos, with meat sourced from nearby Pyengana Premium Meats.

“I love living here, I think we have one of the best avenues for fresh produce and meat, it’s something you need to tap into, homemade food with local produce from someone’s veggie garden out the back,” Ms Rowe said.

Ms Rowe said she will be joined at the cafe by her daughter and mother, as well as getting some of the band back together from her Crank It/ Crank It 2 days, with about six–eight employees all up.

Originally published as Michelle Rowe: Ex Crank It Cafe boss to open new Scottsdale cafe